Before visiting Vienna, I had images in my mind of opera houses, museums, charming beautiful buildings, and quaint streets. Vienna was all these things, minus a certain charm and quaint streets (it was mostly huge boulevards). I was a bit disappointed with the city since I had such high hopes. I felt it to be a bit too imperial and impersonal for my tastes. The buildings were pretty grand, ornately decorated, and HUGE. I also found them to all look the same. The problem with travelling so much is that you start to become jaded about certain places/things ... ie. "oh that waterfall is nothing compared to the one in Iceland" ... "those mountains aren't as high as the ones in Austria" ... "these beaches aren't as nice as the ones in the Philippines" ... I found myself a bit biased due to all the great cities I've been to, so Vienna didn't blow me away.
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| Hofburg Palace |
Nonetheless, it was a nice place and I do not regret spending time there. We saw a beautiful cathedral (St. Stephen's), a fantastic art museum (Kunsthistorisches Museum), and an excellent collection of famous paintings by Gustav Klimt (no photos allowed!) at Belvedere Palace. I didn't know much about Klimt before this, but I can definitely say he's one of my top artists now - look out, Monet!
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| At the Kunsthistorisches Museum |
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| St. Stephen's |
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| View of Vienna from the top of St. Stephen's |
During our time in Vienna we had some great eating experiences. We tried the famous "Wiener schnitzel" which tasted exactly like nonna's fettine. Not even joking. We also visited a famous place called Cafe Central, where many intellectuals came to hang out ever since it opened in 1876. I had some delicious apple strudel with vanilla sauce there. In Vienna we also tried the famous "Sacher Torte" which is basically a rich chocolate cake with apricot filling between layers.
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| Wiener Schnitzel... aka nonna's fettine! |
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| Apple strudel... mmm! |
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| Hanging out with new friends and enjoying some Sacher Torte! |
Since we were spending New Year's in Vienna, we decided to go to where all the action was... down near the cathedral and Hofburg Palace (where the royals lived). We met some nice people from Korea, Japan, and Australia at our guesthouse and we all hung out on New Year's Eve watching an outdoor concert and waited for the countdown to 2013.
On New Year's Day, we headed to City Hall to watch a live broadcasting of the symphony playing the famous New Year's Day concert on a big screen. Despite my slight disappointment with Vienna, I enjoyed the place and was happy to have experienced New Year's there.
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